Life-saving garment.



D. W. OGILVIE.

LIFE SAVING GARMENT.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.11, 1913.

1,109,140, Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

UW. OEHLVIE D. W. OGILVIE. IIIIIIIIIIIIII m.

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D. W. OGILVIE.

LIFE SAVING GARMENT. APPLICATION FILED IEB.11,1913.

1,109,140. Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET s. 80

sebboeaeK D. W. OGILVIE.

LIFE SAVING GARMENT.

APPLIOATION rum) FEB. 11, 1913.

1 ,1Q9,14:O. Patented Sept. 1, 1914.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID WILLIAMS oGILv-IE, 0F BALBQA, CANAL ZONE.

LIFE-SAVING GARMENT.

To all :whom it may concern Be it known that I, DAVID lW. ()GILWIE, asubject of tlu' King of England, residing a Balboa, Canal Zone, have'inxcentednew and useful Improve:nexus in Life-Saving Garments, of whichthe following is a specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in life saving garmentsand has relation more particularly to a device of this general characterespecially designed and adapted for use by perstnis operating aerialcrafts, and the object o f the invention is to oroviele a device of thisgeneral character luwing means of a novel and improved character wherebythe wearer of the garment is e-fiect-i-v-ely proteetedagninst injury asthe re sult of a fall or from the possibility of drowning should thedrop the in water.

The invention consists in the details of c mstructi0n and in thecombination and arrangement of the several parts whereby certainimportant advantages are-,atitained and the device is rendered sinipler, less expensive and otherwise more convenient and advantageous dioruse all as will he hereinafter more fully set depth.

The novel teaituresof the invention ,will be carefully defined in theappended claims.

:In order'tihet my inventimi enemy the the bGt-- ter understood, 1 willnow proceed to describe the same with. reference :to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein? Figure 1 is a. .view in elevation of an an pliedgarment constructed {in accordance with an embodiment of my invention;Fig. 2 is a yiew similar to Fig. l

Kw'ilih .centain of the concomitant parts being omitted; :Eiq. ,8 is a.view in ele vation of one .ost the sections of the gar ment included inAllie present embodiment of my invention, showing certain of the ,partsin let ail Fig. 4 is .a view in top plan of the ,ptll ilfllllil tfl'hereitn disclosed in extem-led, .position, the helmeteoacting therewithbeing indicated in dotted lines; ll ig. is u. somewhat diagrapllic viewin ,eml elevation of the parte as illustrated in Fig". l, the coach inp;helmet being" shown in full lines; Fig. .8 is a view in front elevationof the helmet.

- as herein i-liselosed, forming a part of my specification of LettersPatent.

Application filed February 11, L913.

patented Sen t: T1614: Serial NO. 747.817.

protector, as herein embodied; Fig. 9 is a vert cal yiew takensubstantially centrally through Fig. 8; Fig. 10 is ,a iew in elevatiohdetached of one of the parts, herein disclosed qoeq mg with he pa a uprope Fig- 11 s a comp und vi w t a ng in top plan and in side elevationone .of the collars, as herein contained; Fig. 12 is a yiew similar toFig. 11 illustrating a form of a second collar herein embodied; 13 is ayiew in end elevation of a bushing employedin the present embodiment ofmy invention, and Fig. 14 is a yiew in side-elevation of the bushingdisclosed in Fig 13.

As disclosed in the accompanying drawngs, 1 denotes a garment preferablyof a unc t ipe and formed of any preferred fabric adopted to be wornover the general or ordinary aviators garment and being pige- .vicledaround its ,yuisit portion with .a .1;einforce or thickened portion 2,tofwhiqh are adapted to be permanently secured in any desired mannerthe lower extremities of ,the flexible members or cords 3, to lqehereinafter m reint w a ly r f red t h neck or collar portion of thegarment 1 :is provided with .a suitable fold through which inserted a netallic collar fl, as is particuly lwi wed i We 1- 9 mity .e .sguqhcollar being turned into an eye .5 while theop iposite extremity isformed into a hook member 6 adapted .to coast with such eye as and forthe pklIPQSBS which are"belieyed,selfevident While the garment l, whichmay he tLlll'lQd a foundation suit, may ,be of any desired type I preferthat it be somewhat after the nature of one piece bathing uit. I

(loading with the neck portion or coller of .l he garment an auxiliarycollar .niemher .7, is .lJfLlIlllClllillllillustrated in ,Fig. 11, havng its upper narginal portion provided with an outwardly directed flange8, the .ner surface of such collar being adapted to be lined withsuperimposed layers of rubber and Wool. This collar is adapted tohe wornaround the neck of the aviator. In order to maintain ,this auxiliarycollar '5 against displacement a clasp 9 is employed coucting with theopenings or eyes lO-suil'al')ly produced in the end portions ofthecolhir 7, as is thought to be particularly illustrated in l ig. 11.This auxiliary collar 7 is also adapted to telescopically engage thecollar 4 poeitioued withinthe fold at the neck portion of the garment 1.

' understood that such air' should' not I be I forced between the wallsof such garment 11 until after theisame has'been properly 7 the rods: 18and to which are connected-the pre erably made from water-proof andair-V .tight material which is adapted to com-" pletely inclose. thetrunk of the body from the neck and the nether limbs and the arms abovethe elbows. As herein disclosed, the

- garment 11 is double-Walled and capable 'of' being distended byconfined air, such air being insertible between the walls thereofthrough the medium of'the valve 12, as is particularly shown in Figs. 1and 2,; it being applied upon-the aviator. I

Between the walls of the garment 1.1 are 1 positibned-a' pluralityofperforated flexiblef 7 .-'rubber tubes 14 p'referably positioned onearound the foot, one around the heel and instep, one 'abovefand beloweach of the knee joints, one around the hips, one around the back belowthe arms and one around each of the arms adjacent the shoulder, such"tubes being-suitably anchored or secured to the-opposed faces of. the'walls of the gar mentlL" a By the provision (if the separable-wallsmaintained distended lby confined air," 111' connectlon with: "the"perforated tubular aviator should .enfcounter 'a fall and the safetyappliance to be hereinafter more partic'ularly referred to fail tooperate, the possibility of injurywill be reduced to a minimum, and thedistended walls will serve in the capacity ofa cushion, in a mannerwhich is believed to be'self-evident, the compressed air serving toabsorb the shock of contact.

It will also be observed that the inflation of the garment 11 willafiord; requisite buoyancy to maintain the person afloat should he dropin water. u

The flexible members 3, hereinbefore referred to, are preferably four innumber and are'directed through suitable openings or apertures 15produced in the front and rear of the garmentrll at substantially thewaist line thereof, such apertures being preferably afl'orded by theflanged bushings 16, particularly illustrated in'Figs. 13 and 14,whereby leakage of the confined air between the walls of the garment 11is e fl'ectually prevented.

The upper extremities of the flexible members 3 are secured to theeyelets 17 carried by the outer extremities of the rods 18 and servingto limit the upward movement of such rods, the inner end of each ofwhich rods is provided with an engaging member 19 adapted to create apivotal engagement with the collar 4, such collar having its uppermarginal portion suitably recessed, as indicated at 20 in Figs. 1 and 3,whereby such engagement may be effected, it being readily perceived thatthe flange 8 of the colthe garment lar'7 serves to prevent displacementof the rod.

,7 The rods 18 are normally disposed, when the garment is being worn, insubstantially a vertical position, such rods being of such aconfiguration as to permit the same to lie snugly in contact with theouter surface of 11, the length of the flexible members 3 being such asto limit the upward movement of such rods when they have been caused toassume substantially: the horizontal. In order to limit the movement ofsuch rods 18 one relative to the other when adjusted into substantiallythe horizontal, the eyelets 21 and 22 are provided on each of flexiblemembers 23 and 2 1, respectively,

such members, however, permitting a movement of the rods into thesubstantially vertical or normal position. The members 23 and 24 arealso suitably secured to the flexible body 25 constituting theparachute,

which, when the rods 18 have been adjusted 3 into a substantiallyhorizontal position, serves to retard the drop of the aviator,it beingreadily observed that such adjustment of the rods 18 can be assumedeither automatically or by the aviator extending his arms outwardly insubstantially a horizontal plane from the body, as is particularly shownin Fig. 1. The body 25 is of an area greatly in excess of the areawithin the imaginary circle connecting the ends of the rods 18 whenadjusted into a horizontal plane, whereby it will be observed that whenresistance is being offered to the atmosphere a plurality of pocketswill be formed, as is clearly indicated in Fig. 1, whereby theefficiency of the improved safety garment is reatly increased.v

Each of the rods 18 is also provided at a suitable point intermediateits length with an eyelet 26 to which is secured a flexible zne'rnber27, the opposite extremities of all of such members 27 being suitablyunited, as at 28, and having connected at such point the operatingflexible member 29 which is directed from the rear through an eyelet 30projected upwardly from the top of the helmet 3i, and then directedthereover and through a suitable opening 32 produced in the vizor 33 andextended downwardly and adapted to engage a suitable catcher clasp 34carried by the garment 11 at the front thereof in close proximity to theWaist line. The flexible mem ber 29 is of such a length as to readilypermit an engagement thereof with the catch sition and thus bring theparachute 25 in a position to break the fall, as is believed to beclearly obvious.

The helmet 31 is formed preferably of an outer layer of thin corkcovered by a light rubber cloth and of such configuration as to extendback on the head of the wearer in order toeffectually protect the baseof the skull. The interior of the helmet 31 is provided with a pluralityof properly positioned tubes 35 preferably of rubber charged withcompressed air and hermetically sealed together with a similar tube 36inserted in the rim of the hat and over which the usual sweat-band isadapted to project, and such helmet is adapted to be maintained inproper position upon the head through the medium of the chain strap 37and the additional straps 38 which are suitably secured to a collar 39adapted to be worn about the neck of the wearer.

In order to protect the face against in jury, I employ the faceprotector 40 of proper configuration provided with suitable visualopenings 41 adapted to register with the eyes of the wearer. The faceguard includes a suitable frame covered by a sheet 42 of mica providedthroughout its area with minute perforations in order that no hindrancemay be given to the breathing of the wearer. The guard is also providedwith suitable air-charged tubes 43 to contact with certain portions ofthe face and preferably over the forehead and across the'chin, suchtubes being suitably covered with wool or the like in order to reduce toa minimum the possibility of irritation of the flesh. It might also bewell to state that the sheet 42 of mica should be of such a color as toexclude the glare of the sun.

From the foregoing description, it is thought to be obvious that a lifesaving garment constructed in accordance with mv invention is of anextremely simple and comparatively inexpensive nature and isparticularly well adapted for use by reason of the effectiveness withwhich the \tearer is protected against injury and it will also beobvious that my invention is susceptible of some change and modificationwithout material departure from the principles and spirit thereof andfor this reason I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself to theprecise arrangement and formation of the several parts herein shown incarrying out my invention in practice.

I claim:

1. In combination with a garment and head gear, of rods movablyconnected with the garment, means coacting with the garment and the rodsfor limiting the movement thereof in one direction, means connected tothe rods and coacting with the head gear for manually imparting movementto the rods in one direction, and a flexible body carried by the' rods.

2. A device of the character described including a garment comprisingseparable walls adapted to be distended by confined air and providedwith means whereby such air may be inserted between the walls thereof,rods 'pivotally engaged with the inner wall of the garment, a flexiblebody carried by such rods, and flexible means operatively connected withthe rods and the inner wall of the garment for limiting the movement ofthe rods in one direction.

3. A device of the character described including a garment provided witha substantially ri id collar, rods pivotally engaged with suc collar, aflexible body carried by such rods, and means .operatively connectedwith the rods for limiting the movement thereof in one direction.

4. A device of the character described comprising a garment providedwith a substantially rigid collar, such collar being provided withrecesses, rods detachably engaged within such recesses of the collar, aflexible body carried by such rods, and means for limiting the movementof the rods in one direction.

5. A device of the character described including a arment provided witha substantially rigid collar, such collar having recesses therein, rodsdetachably engaged within such recesses of the collar, an auxiliarycollar telescopically engaged with the first collar for maintainin suchrods against displacement, a flexi le body carried by the rods, andmeans for limiting the movement of the rods in one direction.-

DAVID WILLIAMS ()GILVIE.

Witnesses:

T. S. JOHNSTON, S. WILLIAMS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.?

